My Selangor Story - Chapter 1 l The Start of Something New

On the sunny afternoon of the 23rd of Sept…

Hi everyone!!

Once upon a time..? XD

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhh…….

W.O.W!

This is how i feel right now. =) I don’t even know how to begin this post! XD The My Selangor Story (MSS) competition has been a real eye opener for me! Totally swept me off my feet~ =P

Well, I have to start somewhere.. so, here’s MY Selangor Story~ =)

23rd September 2010 (Thurs)

Ready and Set! 

Uncle came and picked me up from home at 2.20pm. (Uncle! You were supposed to come at 2pm!! XD Venue? Skypark Terminal at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport aka  the old Subang Airport~ *excited* ^__^ Upon reaching, i was amazed at how modern and new it was! From the way people say 'old' Subang Airport, i expected a 'lao kap' and dingy place! it turned out to be very a modernistic place with CLEAN toilets! XD 

Skypark Terminal

Met up with the bloggers and the organisers at the cosy Kapitan Kopitiam who graciously hosted a lil tea party cum opening ceremony for us~~

Photographed by Dian ^^

Finally~ I get to meet the bloggers that i’ve been stalking for the past few weeks!! ;) Most of us bloggers are from Selangor, however there were oso 3 participants from Indonesia and 1 from Singapore! Firefly have kindly sponsored our comrades and flew them in~ ;) the 3 Penangites oso get a free flight too~ they get to fly FOC! Plus I heard they got VIP treatment leh~ Syok right? =P I want.. too bad I’m living in Selangor? XD haha..

The Firefly cabin crew oso joined us for Tea~ Unexpected~ Got leng lui stewardess and leng jai Captain and pilots~ –^___^-

WenYi (my buddy ^^) and I with the Firefly Crew!

Was a lil nervous at first because i don’t know anybody at all!!! XD this is the first time I’m travelling with total strangers! Huge breakthrough on my part~ =P but we got to know each other while having teh tarik~ =)

changed into bright orange jerseys sponsored by Firefly for the opening ceremony~ mine was a lil too fitting =P didn’t expect S size to be really S size cuz free t-shirts are normally bigger.. XD 

Opening speech was given by Mr. Raja Sa’adi, Head of PR & Marketing of Firefly~

After saying goodbye to the friendly staff of Firefly, we boarded our bus and checked into a modest and simple room at the Carlton Hotel in Shah Alam~

bed~~~ XD

My buddy roommate - Wen yi and I 

After settling down, we met at the Hotel's ballroom to collect our  Pentax cameras!! These cameras were lent to us throughout the trip and for people like me who does not own a camera *sobs*, Pentax was our lifesaver! Hurray Pentax!! ^___^

Goodies in envelopes ~

Wee~ My white waterproof OPTIO WS80~


Denise's Pentax OPTIO WS80 Review
+ love the sleek design especially the elegant colour-white!
+ small, handy, easy to use, lots of functions
+ video quality is AWESOME!! really HD!
+ LOVE the waterproof-ness of it! q(^__^)p had lots of fun with it in Sunway~ 
- the photos are a lil grainy though.. XD

One of the 3 SLRs loaned by Pentax
Cute right? ^__^ notice the dalmation spots on it?
too bad i dunno how to use SLRs, must learn soon =P

Thank Q Pentax!! ^__^

1st photo taken with MSS Mummy Amelia~

Well, Amelia is not really old enough to be our mummy, but i think all the bloggers who participated enjoyed the whole trip which was meticulously planned by her. Without her, the whole competition would not have been possible and we would not have enjoyed all the VVIP treatments~ Amelia was the mastermind behind MSS which caused her many sleepless nights and stress.. In the end, she managed to pull through and deliver! *salute* really appreciate all that she has done for us bloggers! =) She is truly an amazing woman with a fun and outgoing personality! You are my SUPERWOMAN~~ ^___^

Ohya, not to forget we were introduced to our lovely patrons from Tourism Selangor too~ 

After a short briefing by Pentax, we hopped on the bus and reached...

I - city, Shah Alam!!!

YES!! Have never been there, wanted to go there for AGES! =P

Before we were let loose to explore, we attended a talk by Mr. Eu Hong Chew, the CEO of I-city!! The honour! Greatly humbled and overwhelmed..

Mr. Eu talking passionately bout I-city's future

According to Mr.Eu, I-city started 5 years ago, and to date is only 15% completed! I city aims to provide a campus environment with world class infrastructure eg. by having its own sources of power supply and installing a fiber optic network to enable warp-speed transmission of data! Hopefully with the high tech infrastructure and high speed internet connection, I-city will be able to draw the knowledge community to it. =)

What I-city will look like when completed~

Not to forget the reason i wanted to go to I-city, the most attractive part is...

The City Of Digital Lights!!

Forest of lights 

Did you know? 

I-city is investing RM 10 million in these LED lights!

pretty flowers~

Guess where and what we had for dinner that night? ^__^

Tadaa~~

LED-light Seafood Steamboat!!! 

i heard that the Sultan dined exactly where we did!  feel so honoured till a lil paiseh.. XD

Happy Happy~ ^__^ 

After stuffing ourselves with our yummy dinner, we were let loose to stroll around~

butterfly? or moth? =P 

we saw lots of families, groups of friends and couples strolling around and taking pictures too~ I-city is truly a budget-friendly place that brings people together to strengthen relationships.. No wonder 70 000 people per week choose to spend their time here~ =) 

Besides that, I-city's decorations are very festive~ It makes me feel like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas all happening at the same time! =)

There are also other interesting attractions such as the Safari Park and the Snow Room~ However, a small amount of additional fees are needed to gain entrance to these places.. its a pity that many people especially big families wouldn't be able to see the cute light figures in these places as they would want to save on the fees charged.. Hopefully I-city will allow free access to these areas too in the future~ =)

The Safari Park~

and the Snow Room~

me, kak ning, wenyi

Ohya, have I introduced Kak Ning? She is our tour guide throughout MSS~ Kak Ning is a very knowledgeable and cheerful tour guide who loves to crack jokes about the foreign tourist that she used to lead. XD Her stories could easily fill a travel blog! ^^ haha.. after mingling with us bloggers, she is considering to start a blog too~ I really hope i get to read it soon~ =)

Due to limited time, i missed the souvenir shop.. =/ apparently there are all kinds off cool LED light toys.. Must stop by next time and have a look.. =P

 dian's cool LED orb from the souvenir shop~ 

After leaving I-city around 10pm, our next stop was

UPTOWN, Shah Alam~

FB page: http://www.facebook.com/uptownshahalam

Its the new era of Uptown everybody~ long gone are the 80's fun fairs and even the 90's pasar malams.

Uptown Shah Alam started operating on the 1st of May 2006. It now has hundreds of stalls selling all sorts of things such as food, clothes, shoes, accessories, pets and etc. Besides that, the stalls are all roofed so that rainy days won't destroy their goods and shoppers can continue shopping without being wet! ^__^

Group photo at the entrance =)

We were first welcomed by Mr. Aizul Hisham and his cute baby girl named Cinta~

Cinta learning how to be a successful entrepreneur like her daddy =P

and served supper- fries plus teh tarik by Jass Cafe~ =P

Jass Cafe~

After the brief intro by Mr. Aizul, us bloggers started scouting the area~ =D Uptown really offers a wide variety to their shoppers, 

from clothes

to shoes,

 to accessories

to magic thingys

to home decor

to art

i miss doing sand art~
not to forget kiddies art,

hello hammies~ ^__^

to cute and furry pets,

tian chad just found his long lost pet =P

and to not so cute and furry ones.. XD

The highlight of the night was of course...

Amelia performing live on uptown's stage~ 

and 

Eyriqazz's duet with Uptown's ambassador~ ^__^

Before we left, the friendly uptownians gave us one last and unexpected treat~ 

Coconut Jelly~

Terima Kasih banyak-banyak ya~ ^__^

By the time we reached the hotel after our eventful half day (felt like a whole day dy!!) tour, it was already some time past midnight~

we also received... 

our P1 broadband by our official sponsor P1W1Max~ Thank Q!!

 Though tired, I felt very happy and contented! Couldn't wait to get on with tomorrow~ Thank goodness we didnt have to blog that night! =P After getting everything done and settled, the light's went off at 3am.. =)